8/21/2017

Kayode reacts to presidential broadcast, attacks Buhari

Former
minister of Aviation, Olufemi Fani Kayode has condemned President Muhammadu
Buhari’s speech to Nigerians early this morning.

FFK lamented
that the 6-minute broadcast was ‘uninspiring’, adding that Buhari made no
attempt to reach out to the people, to build bridges and to calm the troubled
waters. Fani-Kayode wrote;

“He claims
that his views represent the thinking of the majority of Nigerians yet he
refuses to accept the idea or acknowledge the legitimacy of a national
referendum.

If he wants
to enhance national unity, which is, of course, a noble and righteous venture,
and if he really wants Nigeria to remain one then he must desist from his
dangerous and provocative rhetoric, he must treat all Nigerians like human
beings and as equals.

He must
exhibit a much higher degree of sobriety and accommodation of contrary and
dissenting views and he must display far more sensitivity, understanding and
restraint in his interactions and discourse with the opposition and those that
do not agree with him.

Failing that
and without a quick recourse to the devolution of power from the centre and the
neat and timely restructuring of what is essentially a fake pseudo-federation
and a functional unitary state, the agitation for emancipation will become more
pronounced, the various ethnic nationalities in this country will eventually
exercise their right of self-determination and our nation will eventually
break.

The fault
lines are there and they are visible for all to see. We must recognise our
differences, acknowledge our fears, concerns and anxieties, soothe frayed
nerves, bridge the gap, make the necessary concessions and heal the wounds or
we must prepare for the very worse in the not too distant future. That is the
way forward and that is the only way to ensure and guarantee lasting peace and
unity.

Since the
President mentioned the late and revered Chief Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the
Ikemba Nnewi, the former Head of State of the old Biafra and the Eze Gburugburu
of the Igbo, in his morning address let me add the following.

If this
great man were still alive today to witness what his Igbo people have been
subjected to over the last two years under the Buhari administration he would
have been the first to insist on Biafra all over again.

And the
truth is that Ojukwu, Major Chukwuemeka Kaduna Nzeogwu and the great Zik of
Africa, the Owelle of Onitsha, Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe have collectively
resurrected in a young lion from the east called Nnamdi Kanu who he must handle
with the utmost care.

What the
President is unable to grasp and fails to comprehend is this: we are not
children, we are not animals and we refuse to be second-class citizens.

All Mr
President’s sinister and inappropriate talk about “red lines” and his insidious
threats of bloodshed and blood flow cannot change that and neither is anyone
intimidated. Such talk is reckless, dangerous, irresponsible and inappropriate.

Worse of
all, other than saying that every Nigerian has the right to live in any part of
the country, he refused to order the arrest or threaten to cage and bring to
justice those that gave the Igbo people a chilling quit notice and that have
promised to unleash genocide, ethnic cleansing and mass murder on them if they
refused to abide by it and leave the north by October 1st.

Finally, the
President expressed his concerns about the social media. The truth is that the
internet has always been the nightmare of tyrants and dictators all over the
world ever since it came into existence.

Now that our
President has acknowledged his disdain and hate for this medium we will
increase our efforts to make life more difficult for his government through
it.We will keep them on their toes and hold them to account by utilising the
social and traditional media all the more. What he wishes to hide shall be made
manifest and known to all”.